


In Another Life

by awerewolf



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Arasaka Ending, Dialogue Heavy, F/M, Gen, Hurt very little comfort, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:00:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28128012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awerewolf/pseuds/awerewolf
Summary: Arasaka can't save her in the way they both hoped it could.
Relationships: Goro Takemura/Female V
Comments: 2
Kudos: 144





	In Another Life

**Author's Note:**

> If you save Takemura, he's the one that comes to speak with you in the end.
> 
> 12/19: I'm an idiot and didn't realize Goro is his first name, not his surname. Also made minor edits.

The space station was cold and cramped. It was not a place that Goro Takemura liked to be. He understood the necessity, of course. The most sterile environment for such procedures was in a place free of infectious bacteria and diseases. It did not make it any more comfortable.

“I was told I must come here, and now I must ask why.” He asked the doctor in front of him. The woman’s eyes lit up and blinked rapidly as she went over scans in her head.

“The patient here- we’ve been conducting tests on her recovery for a few months now.” Her eyes returned to normal and she sat back in her desk chair. “She’s declining. Both her physical and mental state are getting worse by the day. The patient is going to die. Sooner, rather than later.”

Goro’s throat felt dry. “I promised her that Arasaka could save her. She would not be here if it weren’t for me. Is that truly all you can do for her?”

The doctor scowled. “We always put forth the best efforts for our patients here, but it can hardly be helped when they arrive in such a terrible state. She was already dying. The patient-“

“Please, if we are to discuss her, let us not do so in such clinical terms. She is V.”

The doctor paused. “You are aware that is not her real name, correct? I have her entire record, from birth until now.”

“It is what she likes to be called, so that is what I will call her.”

She stood from the desk and crossed to the window, staring out into the stars. “V is going to die. It’s only a matter of time. Her brain is desperately trying to repair itself and destroy itself at the same time. We took out the chip, and left a hole in it’s place.” She sighed. “Hanako Arasaka has offered to make this one an engram and return her to a new body in time, free of charge. Her kindness continues to astound me.”

“We would not be where we are today if it weren’t for V.”

“I am aware. That’s why I requested you.” The doctor turned to him. “You are loyal to Arasaka, so I trust you. You are here because she trusts you too. I would tell her the news myself, but the last time I went into her room she had a breakdown. She destroyed her room. My telling her would not be the best decision.”

“I have been brought here to inform my friend that she is going to die?”

“Yes, and that Arasaka can take another route to save her, but only if she agrees.” The doctor turned back to the window. “Or we will send her back to Earth to die there.”

Goro swallowed hard. V had told him herself that she had never trusted Hanako, she had only put her trust in him. He was unsure if she would agree to have her psyche digitized. She had lived with an engram of her own in her mind for the time that he knew her. It would save her, but not in the way that they both had hoped.

“When do I speak to her?” Goro asked.

The doctor glanced back at him, barely interested. She crossed the room and sat at her desk again. “Now. Two doors down, to the right.”

The room was destroyed, just as the doctor had said. V laid on the bare mattress in the middle of the room. The guards had seen fit to remove anything she could use to hurt herself, but hadn’t bothered to clean up.

“V.”

At the sound of his voice, she sat up. He had never seen her like this before. Her face was bare of makeup, and they had to shave her head for the surgery. The scar ran from the top of her ear across the back of her head, the stitches not yet removed.

“Goro?” She sat up, running her hands over the fuzz on her head. “Shit, I’m hallucinatin’.”

“No, I am real.” He picked up a tossed over chair and sat at her bedside. “You look awful.”

“Didn’t know you were coming, had no chance to pretty myself up.” She mimicked putting on lipstick. “You don’t seem like a lipstick kinda guy, though. Would probably prefer a minimalist look.”

He let out a light chuckle, and then the smile dropped from his face. “We must talk.”

“Figured as much. Wouldn’t have blasted you into space just for little old me unless it was serious.”

He looked down at the floor, clenching his fists in resolve. “Despite Arasaka’s best efforts, your life cannot be saved.”

“Oh fuck.” Her voice was soft, and then grew harder. “Fuck!” She slammed her fist against the wall next to her bed. “You said they could save me. You _promised_. I _trusted_ you.”

“V, I thought that they could. Truly, if there was anything that could be done, it would be Arasaka who could do it for you.” He caught himself pleading with her and sat back, straightening his spine. “But that is not all, you must listen-“

“Why? I gave up everything- I betrayed everything I once knew because I trusted you and you told me to trust Arasaka. The same people who kicked you out like you were trash to them, even though you gave them your entire life. You never stopped kissing their ass, even after they put a fucking hit out on you.” She punched the wall again, leaving dots of blood where the skin on her knuckles had broken. “You saved me after Dex put a bullet in me. I saved you after Arasaka broke into that apartment and tried to execute you via firing squad. I didn’t do that for money, or not even to repay my debt to you. I did that cause you’re my _fucking friend_. I never trusted Arasaka, I only trusted you. I should’ve known. I’m such an idiot. If you’re trash to them then I’m worse than trash. A parasite. Why would they ever wanna save me?”

Goro watched her cradle her bleeding knuckles. He knew that she was right, at least in part. He had hoped Arasaka would save her and take her in as he had been taken in as a child. She was smart and strong; she could be a valuable asset to the company. If anything, she could always work with him, as one of his guards. But he had seen her around the others. She was uncomfortable, and they were more than uncomfortable. She did not fit in among them. She never would. Hellman held a grudge against her for ripping him from the safety of Kang Tao. Oda would never trust her, especially after she bested him in battle. He would always be bitter. And Hanako—To Hanako she was nothing more than a spider she had graciously decided not to squash. V was something lesser that she had happened to take a passing pity on.

Finally, he spoke. “V, there is one way, but not the way we wanted.”

“And what’s that? I get put on life support and spend my days wasting away up here?”

“No.” He pulled out the datapad, getting the information ready. “The ‘Secure Your Soul’ program. Hanako has offered it to you, so you can live.”

“I haven’t done enough, huh? You asking me to literally sell my soul to Arasaka?”

“That is not what this means.” He scrolled through the contract. “You will become an engram, and they will put you back into a body when they find one for you.”

“I like this body.” Her teeth were clenched. “The one I was born in.”

“But it is failing you. It will fail you.” He softened his tone. “This is the only way you can have a chance. They will take you to process your mind into data immediately. When they find a suitable body for you, you can do whatever you like with it. Make it look like yourself again.”

“And I won’t be stealin’ it from someone else? Like Johnny?” She locked eyes with him. “Like Saburo?”

They stared at each other. “No. It will be donated, or perhaps in time they will simply make you one. I am not a scientist, so I cannot say. Either way, none of this can be done without your permission.”

“Fuck, Arasaka’s paragons of consent, right?” She laughed. “God, look what they did to Yorinobu. I mean I thought the guy was fuckin’ cracked, dramatic as could possibly be, but didn’t think he deserved that.”

Goro was surprised. “You pity him, after all he’s done?”

“Yeah, guess I do.” She laid back down. “Death would’ve been better. Cleaner. Could’ve had your justice by squeezing his neck like he did his dad’s. Kill him the same way he killed. S’why I never said anything about Dex.”

“That fixer who shot you?” His brows furrowed. “Why?”

“Cause it was justice. Had I crawled out of that garbage peak on my own, I would’ve dragged myself across Night City to get him. It was his fault. Not just me, but Jackie and T-Bug too.” She turned on her side, tucking her hands under her head. “But then I saw you put a bullet in his head right in front of me, and that angry piece of me went quiet. That was justice.”

“He was responsible for the death of your crew.”

“He was. And he died in a garbage dump with a bullet in his head. It was good. It was _clean_.” She gestured to the television on the wall. “What Saburo did to his own son, that can never be clean. That body won’t ever truly accept him. Even if Yorinobu’s gone, that meatsuit won’t ever fit just right.”

“I have nothing to say about Saburo’s decision. Only that it is already done. Saburo lives on in his son’s body. That is all there is to know.”

A strange look crossed her face. “Guess we all become our parents eventually. I mean shit, look at me! I’m in a padded cell- just like my dear old mom.”

“V, this is not a prison. You may leave if you wish.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “But I am begging you to consider this. Please, let them save you.”

“What if I’m not the same, when I come back?” She looked up at him. “What if I die when I let them make the engram, and it’s not really me when I come back?”

“I don’t have all the answers.” He shook his head. “I cannot tell you anything that might bring you comfort. Only that this is an opportunity I truly wish you would take.”

“Why? Why do you give a single fuck?” She sat up, gesturing out. “You could be sitting in some five star restaurant in Japan right now, eating your body weight in gourmet food. You could be beating the shit out of Oda on some training ground. You could be shooting the shit with your boss. But you’re here with me—begging me to not let myself die. Why?”

“You said it yourself. We are friends. Saving you from this death is my responsibility. It was my responsibility when I took you out of the landfill.”

She grimaced. “Am I really your friend, or just some stray dog you took in?”

“You are my friend.” He squeezed his fists tight, knuckles turning white under his gloves. “I care about what happens to you. I do not want you to die, V.”

She looked at the floor. “And what about you, huh? What if it’s a century or two before they find a new body to pop me in?”

He locked eyes with her. “I will be there.”

Her mouth set into a line. “You promise me? Like a real promise?”

“Yes. I _will_ be there. I promise you.” He holds out the datapad. “Please, V. Save yourself.”

She hesitates only a moment, then reaches out and touches the pad, signing with her fingerprint. “There. It’s done. I’m putting my trust in you again.”

“I promise you I will be there, V.” He reached out and cupped her shoulder. “We will see each other again. And you with come to Japan with me, and we will both eat our own weight in gourmet Japanese food.”

She smiled and looked towards the door. Something in her face changed, softened. Like she was accepting death, like she was walking to the gallows. His stomach clenched at the sight of it. “I guess I gotta go then. I don't know when I'll be back. Could you… could you hold something for me while I’m gone?”

He blinked. “Of course.”

“You can’t lose it. You gotta give it right back to me as soon as you see me again, alright?”

“I will keep it safe. What is it?”

She reached forward, cupping the back of his neck and leaning into him for a kiss. He stiffened only for a moment, knowing there were cameras in the room, and someone was likely watching. Then he remembered that he didn’t know how long it would be until he saw her again, and he softened.

She smelled different than he was used to. She smelled clinical and clean, like freshly washed linens and antibacterial soap. Her hair was gone, he remembered as he leaned into her, his own hand finding her neck. He found himself missing it. It was a loud color, not natural in any way, but it was part of her identity.

The kiss lasted only one long moment and she pulled back. He cleared his throat and she stood, wobbling a bit on her feet.

“There’s this too.” She held out a chain with a homemade pendant attached. A damaged bullet lay in the middle. “That’s the bullet Vik fished out my head after you saved me. It reminds me… of who I am. Take it.”

It is only a trinket, but the weight in his hands was overwhelming. “I am unsure what to say.”

“Say I’ll be okay.” Her bare feet padded on the ground as she headed over to the door. “Say you’ll see me later.”

“You will be okay.” He stood, the chain dangling from his hand. “And I will see you later.”

“Then, I suppose…” The door slid open. A guard stood outside, ready to escort her to the operating room. “I'll see you later."


End file.
